Suspended priest gets fine, probation for driving drunk, naked

DEARBORN — The priest arrested for driving drunk and naked this summer has been sentenced to probation and fined.

The Rev. Peter Petroske, placed on administrative leave by the Archdiocese of Detroit from Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Dearborn, will have to pay $1,200 in fines and court costs, was sentenced to 12 months’ reporting probation and must attend Alcoholic Anonymous meetings three times a week, according to the sentence handed down by 19th District Judge Richard Wygonik on Thursday afternoon.

Petroske also was ordered to continue outpatient counseling when he’s discharged from the St. John Vianney Center in Downingtown, Pa., which is geared toward the clergy and religious community.

He had pleaded guilty to impaired driving and disorderly person/obscene conduct.

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Petroske had missed a pretrial hearing before Wygonik on Oct. 25 because he had voluntarily checked himself into the in-patient alcohol rehabilitation center. During that hearing, Wygonik ordered that Petroske attend the new hearing, which he did. Petroske still is in inpatient treatment at St. John Vianney.

Before the sentencing, Wygonik asked Petroske if he wished to address the court. He declined.

His attorney, Edward Zelenak, said he and Petroske agreed to the plea and sentencing. He also said that the $1,200 would be paid Thursday.

Petroske, 57, was placed on administrative leave by the archdiocese after he was arrested, and was ordered to move out of the Sacred Heart rectory. An archdiocese spokesman said after the sentencing that Petroske remains on administrative leave.

He was pulled over in a 2002 Volkswagen Passat at about 11 p.m. Aug. 2 near Garrison and Howe streets, close to Sacred Heart.

“I was uh ... hot ... I like to drive around naked,” he told an officer. “I don’t know what to say ... I’m embarrassed.”

The officer wrote in a report that Petroske’s speech was slurred and his eyes were red and glassy. The officer smelled a “strong odor of intoxicants” on his breath.

Petroske’s blood-alcohol level was 0.09 percent. Under Michigan law, 0.08 percent or higher is considered drunk.

A man called 911 to say that he saw a naked man driving near Telegraph Road and Michigan Avenue. Police said Petroske drove on Michigan Avenue to Military to Garrison, and allegedly tried to drive around a police car.

Police seized a laptop out of the Passat’s trunk. Zelenak said in October that it was returned to him days after the arrest. He also said that Petroske had a clean driving record and received hundreds of letters of encouragement and support from parishioners and other friends.

The Rev. Robert Blondell has been Sacred Heart’s administrator since Petroske’s arrest. In addition to the church, it also has a school for preschoolers to eighth-graders.

Petroske, who was ordained Sept. 14, 1984, in Marquette, had been at Sacred Heart since 2008. He has worked at several parishes in the Upper Peninsula and the Detroit area, including 14 years at St. Pius X Catholic Church in Southgate.

Julie Walker Altesleben, a freelance writer, contributed to this story.Contact Joe Slezak at 1-734-246-0835 or jslezak@heritage.com. Follow him on Twitter @ JoeSlezak1.